MICHAEL MOORE ANNOUNCES THE RECIPIENTS OF THE FIRST ANNUAL "MICHAEL MOORE FREEDOM OF SPEECH SCHOLARSHIP AT CAL STATE SAN MARCOS"

MOORE TRIPLES THE AMOUNT OF SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FIRST YEAR DUE TO LARGE NUMBER OF OUTSTANDING APPLICANTS

May 13th, 2005 -- Oscar-winning filmmaker and best-selling author Michael Moore announced today the first annual recipients of "The Michael Moore Freedom of Speech Scholarship at Cal State San Marcos."

Michael Moore has chosen six students to receive a total award of $15,000, with $2,500 going to each student. Moore's original plan for the first year of the scholarship was to give out $5,000 or two $2,500 scholarships. Mr. Moore tripled the number of recipients in response to the large number of impressive applications from outstanding Cal State San Marcos students who have stood up to their administration and fought for students' rights.

On September 13th, 2004 Cal State San Marcos President Karen Haynes announced her decision to rescind a speaking invitation Michael Moore had received from the student body on the grounds that the speaker was too "political." Students responded to the administration's attempt to repress free speech by independently raising money themselves and organizing the 10,000 person rally at the Del Mar Fairgrounds held on October 12, 2004, as part of Moore's 62-city "Slacker Uprising Tour."

In honor of those courageous students, "The Michael Moore Freedom of Speech Scholarship at Cal State San Marcos" was established. The scholarship's first annual recipients are as follows:

Cheyenne Barr

Ms. Barr is a junior majoring in Women's Studies with a minor in Psychology. She is a former president of the Progressive Activists Network (PAN) on campus and the two-time winner of its "Member of the Year" award. Cheyenne, along with fellow recipient, Tasha Iglesias, designed and taught a popular course on Women and Health. Outside the classroom, she has given workshops on clean money election reform, organized peer based student advising, lobbied against student budget cuts and fee increases in Sacramento as part of the ASI Lobby Corps. Cheyenne also helped organize the Academic Freedom Rally, a collaborative program on the right-wing attempts to curtail freedom of expression on California campuses. "My personal goals have always led me to broader human issues. My interest in gender roles, empowerment and access to academic counseling have all gone from the personal to the community stage. My goal now is to pursue a degree in Women's Studies, get my masters and then PhD with the hope of teaching Women's Studies, maybe even at CSUSM."

Julie D. Bennington

Ms. Bennington, a junior now pursuing her degree in Women's Studies and Literature and a minor in Ethnic Studies, came to CSUSM as a typical, apathetic commuter student who wanted to spend as little time as possible on campus. After an encounter in a coffee house, Julie joined the school's Progressive Activists Network (PAN) and discovered her passion for politics and human rights. She now serves as the group's President. Julie is no longer the apathetic student she once was, just recently organizing a campus-wide forum on policing practices. Another event, the first annual PAN Peace Picnic, pitted Julie and her PAN cohorts against the school's administration. The picnic eventually went ahead, but only after an armed police officer was assigned to watch over their celebration of peace. Julie hopes to put her education to good use and someday teach. "Activism has changed my life. I feel as though I have finally found what I was meant to do in life."

Heather Frost

Ms. Frost, a graduating senior with a degree in Women's Studies, has repeatedly rallied students on campus and in the classroom. Heather does not give people in positions of power a free pass and has directly confronted CSUSM President Karen Haynes on issues of academic freedom, the fostering of critical thinking and the upholding of the University Mission Statement and its stated educational values. In the classroom, Heather has taken a leading role in the Women's Studies Department, becoming a Student Discussion Leader for two of the schools' courses, "Introduction to Women's Studies" and "Beauty and Body Image" which deals with the social pressures women face in our commercialized society. Ms. Frost intends to pursue an advanced degree in Critical Gender and Race Studies and hopes to develop a Women's Resource Center in her local community. "I believe in holding people accountable, especially those in positions of power and privilege. It wasn't easy to speak out. As students we realized that our voices do matter and that we can live as citizens who actively participate in the governance of the communities and country we live in."

Tasha Iglesias

Ms. Iglesias, a graduating senior with a double major in Liberal Studies and Women's studies, has been a leader in the Women's Studies department, serving as Vice President of the Women's Studies Student Association where she, along with co-scholarship winner Cheyenne Bar, recently finished teaching a course on Women's Sexuality that she helped design. Tasha has helped coordinate trips to Washington D.C to demonstrate on behalf of women's right to choose, and has even represented CSUSM on multiple women's rights panels. She is currently a student intern with the California Faculty Association. Tasha is also active in the fight for students' rights and will be conducting trainings on campus this summer on sexual assault. Ms. Iglesias plans to pursue an advanced degree in the Sociology of Culture and teach future generations. "I will continue to challenge everyone's truth and find my own. I will continue to advocate for others and will work to change the world around me."

Sarah Leonard

Ms. Leonard, a junior with a double major in Criminology & Justice Studies and Women's Studies (with a focus on communities and inequalities), has been a tireless on-campus activist at CSUSM, working to increase student awareness of issues ranging from racial profiling of minority students by campus police, to HIV/AIDS education to genocide in Sudan. Sarah has helped organize many events that challenge the prevailing, conservative climate in North San Diego County. Working with Veterans for Peace, Sarah helped to create "Arlington West", a temporary memorial of over 1,400 crosses to symbolize the American military death toll in Iraq. Would-be saboteurs of the Republican persuasion carved a giant "W" in the lawn where these crosses were to be placed -- as if correlating these deaths with George W. Bush would somehow nullify the memorial. Sarah continues to organize, recently recruiting many of her fellow students to lobby their legislators in San Diego and Sacramento against proposed budget cuts to the California State University system and a proposed state law to limit the free speech of university professors. Ms. Leonard plans to continue her student activism and after graduation pursue a public interest career and continue fighting for equality and justice. "Being a senior next year I plan to put all my energy into cutting through the red tape at Cal State San Marcos so that I can be a proud alumni of this campus, one who made it easier for future students to enjoy their education and their freedom of speech."

Jason E. Williams

Mr. Williams is a senior Communications major, a Sociology minor, former captain of the CSUSM track team and is pursuing his long-term interest in musical performance as well as perusing a career in higher education. Returning to campus from his grandmother's 75-birthday celebration in October 2004, Jason was pulled over by the CSUSM campus police for allegedly running a stop sign. The police searched his car and found a 5-1/2-inch common kitchen knife. Jason was arrested and originally charged with a felony weapons possession. Mr. Williams was forced to resign from the Track team and now faces a criminal trial and potential for up to a year in jail. That's the sad part. The empowering part is what Jason Williams has done about it. Mr. Williams has spoken out - at campus forums, rallies and marches, to the media and to school administration. He has tirelessly pursued justice and spoken out against racial profiling by campus authorities. In speaking about that fateful evening, Jason recalls the campus police who stopped him saying, "You don't belong here." Wrong. Jason E. Williams is exactly the type of student who belongs at CSUSM and that is why he is a deserving recipient of "The Michael Moore Freedom of Speech Scholarship At Cal State San Marcos."

Upon announcing the winners, Michael Moore said the following: "Congratulations to all the scholarship recipients. I hope this award further inspires students to hit the books, study hard, fight for what they believe in, and raise some hell when there's hell to be raised."

Moore added: "Congratulations to the entire Class of '05."